FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 2, 2007

Vancouver, Canada - One of the world's foremost authorities on interactive scripting in virtual worlds has joined Vancouver-based Web 2.0 firm Social Signal, company CEO Alexandra Samuel announced today.

Catherine Winters, known in Second Life as Catherine Omega, will serve as Social Signal's Managing Director of Virtual Worlds and lead the company's new Second Life practice.

"Social Signal's mission and goals are very much in line with my own goals for social change," Winters said. "The potential of virtual worlds to affect interactions both online and off is incredible. I'm very excited to have the opportunity to lead projects that realize that potential."

Winters is a co-author of the newly-published Second Life: The Official Guide and the creator of the acclaimed LSL Wiki, the leading resource on Second Life's scripting language.

Samuel said Social Signal plans to unveil its first initiatives in Second Life in the first half of 2007. The company has purchased an island, and Social Signal's staff have been active participants in Second Life for several months.

"For organizations looking to engage their publics, Second Life offers an experience like no other," she said. "It promises the rich immediacy of video, the interactivity of the web and the intimacy of face-to-face contact.

"But making good on that promise means going beyond storefronts and billboards. Catherine's expertise in Second Life interactivity and her understanding of virtual-world community dynamics and participation will be critical to our clients' success."

Samuel said she's particularly intrigued by the prospects for organizations that link a Second Life presence with their other Web 2.0 communities. "The real power may lie in finding ways of harnessing the networked relationships of the social web to the interactive vitality of Second Life," she said.

"We've become adept at finding innovative applications for versatile platforms like Drupal and WordPress. I can't wait to see what happens when we integrate Second Life into that toolkit."

Social Signal, founded in 2005, builds online communities for businesses, governments and non-profits, with a focus on fostering social change. Clients have ranged from CompuMentor, which provides technology assistance to more than 50,000 non-profit organizations across North America, to Vancity, Canada's largest credit union.

Note: Social Signal will host an informal public reception to welcome Catherine Winters on January 3 from 2 pm to 4 pm Pacific/SL time (5 pm to 7 pm Eastern) at TechSoup's Second Life headquarters on Info Island (SLurl: http://slurl.com/secondlife/InfoIsland/52/171/33/). All are welcome.

Information:

Alexandra Samuel (SL: Consultini Paperdoll)
tel. 778-371-5445
alex@socialsignal.com